housing bubble

Florida remains one of the states with the highest foreclosure rate, according to a new report from real estate firm RealtyTrac. The Sunshine State has four of the five metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates: Tampa, Lakeland, Jacksonville and Ocala.

But compared to last year, foreclosures are down and, according to Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac, a lot of the bad loans that led the nation into the housing crisis are cycling out of the system.

Since the local housing market picked up after the recession, Miami’s skyline includes a growing number of cranes pulling condos out of the ground. But the success story is not the only story of housing here in South Florida.

Martha Brannigan covers real estate for the Miami Herald and she has been working on a series called "Boom, Bust and Back."

Something about housing stats in particular seems a bit more voyeuristic than say, just the average age of a neighborhood's residents. Housing numbers create a figurative window into people’s private spheres that is a bit uncomfortable at times, but the stats help visualize in a different way the place we call home.

Here's a list of websites that map different aspects of Miami's housing market:

I resigned a position in November 2012. The income was decent, but the position I resigned was 42 miles north in Broward County. Gas and tolls cost about $600 per month. While the pay was a very good income seven years ago, a lack of raises meant it was no longer adequate. In the past few years we have seen drastic increases in home insurance cost, gas, health insurance, food, and electricity. Yet income levels have not increased to keep pace with the expenses.

At the height of the construction boom in 2006, Miami sprouted the second-fastest growing skyline in the world, behind Dubai. You could count over 70 cranes crowding each other out, like a tower of steel giraffes voraciously feeding on concrete.